State of Play

2013 "We don't play for fun. We play for work."
6.3| 1h25m| en| More Info
Released: 09 September 2013 Released
Producted By:
Country: South Korea
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website: http://stateofplaydoc.com/
Synopsis

A feature documentary about the world of South-Korean professional gamers. Every year thousands of South-Koreans flock to the game stadiums in Seoul to watch the Pro League, a live sports event where professional gamers compete to be the best at one single video game: Starcraft. It’s a title many young South Koreans dream of. The game itself is more than a decade old, almost ancient in the fast developing world of video games, but in South Korea it has become a national past-time. Like most specator sports, this world of eSports rapidly evolved in a multi-million dollar business. In this story, we follow 3 boys in different stages of their career as a Pro-Gamer in South Korea. For some it will be a struggle to stay on top of their game, for others it might be the turning point of their lives

... View More
Stream Online

Stream with Prime Video

Cast

Director

Producted By

Trailers & Images

  • Top Credited Cast
  • |
  • Crew

Reviews

Maxwell Kennedy This film deserves a better rating here on IMDB. This film tells three stories really well. One of a young a korean boy with the goal of becoming a professional gamer in the highly competitive world of StarCraft esports. The second of a new recruit for a pro team and the third featured character is the legendary veteran Jaedong. All three of these stories intertwine to give the viewer a whole view of the scene of Starcraft and professional esports in its birthplace, South Korea. The cinematic pacing and treatment of the subjects is fascinating. This is the first time esports has been approached by a gifted storyteller and is one of the first docs to watch in the esports space.
batigoal9-1 Being a huge fan of eSports I enjoyed this thoroughly and thus gave it a 10 rating. If you have followed the competitive scene of Starcraft Brood War or SC2 you will also probably enjoy it.It follows the story of three players on different levels of competition in the Korean scene of Starcraft around 2011-2012. First player is the superstar, second is a semi-professional and the third an amateur.The film has a professional feel and it does a very good job showing how important the game was in Korean culture and how it affected the lives of the youth involved with it.It doesn't have the best pacing but that's to be expected since it realistically shows how cut throat the competition was.In my opinion it's not for everyone and I'd recommend it to people who are interested in Starcraft, eSports or Korean culture.